American flags blow in wind around the Washington Monument with the U.S. Capitol in the background at sunrise on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020, in Washington. The impeachment trial of President Donald Trump will resume in the U.S. Senate on Jan. 21.
Pennsylvania U.S. Senate: A guide to the 2022 primary
By Lucy Perkins and Emily Previti/ WESA
Jon Elswick / AP Photo
American flags blow in wind around the Washington Monument with the U.S. Capitol in the background at sunrise on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020, in Washington. The impeachment trial of President Donald Trump will resume in the U.S. Senate on Jan. 21.
What’s at stake: The winner of Pennsylvania’s open U.S. Senate race could determine control of the Senate, and therefore it’s one of the most closely watched elections this year. The seat is currently represented by Republican Pat Toomey, who in October 2020 announced his planned retirement. Democrats see the seat as an opportunity to defend their 50-seat majority (with the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris) in what is shaping up to be a good year for the GOP. The winner could provide a critical vote on a number of issues on which Democrats have struggled to unite themselves, including the climate crisis and voting rights. Republicans, meanwhile, want to hold the seat in order to gain control of the Senate.
Lt. Gov. John Fetterman speaks during the Pa. Democratic primary debate for U.S. Senate held at Dickinson College on April 25, 2022.
Fetterman currently serves as Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor; he was elected to the position in 2018. He lives outside Pittsburgh in Braddock, across from U.S. Steel’s Edgar Thomson plant, and he has said Democrats don’t have to choose between banning non-renewable energy sources such as fracking and acting to address the climate crisis. In 2010, Fetterman was elected as mayor of Braddock, winning by one vote. Bolstered by national media accounts of his efforts to reverse the area’s decline, he served in that position until his successful run for lieutenant governor eight years later.
Party: Democrat Experience:
Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania (2019 – present)
Mayor of Braddock (2006 – 2019) Education:
Albright College (B.A.); University of Connecticut (MBA); Harvard University (MPP) Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube Candidate surveys: League of Women Voters Major endorsements: United Food & Commercial Workers Local 1776, United Steelworkers District 10, Pennsylvania Postal Workers Union, National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, United Rural Democrats. Others here. Fundraising total: $15.1 million Cash on hand: $4.2 million More on campaign finance: Federal Election Commission Worth reading: “The Democrats’ giant dilemma” (Holly Otterbein, Politico)
“Braddock made John Fetterman a politician. It’s also home to some of his biggest critics” (Katie Meyer, WHYY)
Alex Khalil
Joe Hermitt / PennLive
Alexandria Khalil speaks during the Pa. Democratic primary debate for U.S. Senate held at Dickinson College on April 25, 2022.
Khalil serves on the Jenkintown Borough Council in Montgomery County. She is an IT specialist and former small business owner. Her parents are Palestinian immigrants, and she was raised in New York and New Jersey. Khalil was a 2016 delegate for Bernie Sanders and has been a vocal organizer for and supporter of the Affordable Care Act.
Party: Democrat Experience: Jenkintown Borough Council (2019 – present) Education: Temple University (B.S.) Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter Candidate surveys: League of Women Voters Major endorsements: None currently available Fundraising Total: $17,151 Cash on hand: $1,719 More on campaign finance: Federal Election Commission
Conor Lamb
Joe Hermitt / PennLive
U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb speaks during the Pa. Democratic primary debate for U.S. Senate held at Dickinson College on April 25, 2022.
Lamb represents Allegheny County suburbs and Beaver County in the U.S. House of Representatives. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps and was first elected in a special election in 2018. Lamb’s win launched him into the national spotlight as one of the first Democrats to flip a district that President Donald Trump carried in 2016. In Congress, Lamb has been a staunch union supporter. He also has advocated for lowering prescription drug prices and protecting Medicare and Social Security. Before running for office, Lamb served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice in Pittsburgh.
Party: Democrat Experience:
U.S. House of Representatives – 17th District (2019 – present)
U.S. House of Representatives – 18th District (2018 – 2019) Education: University of Pennsylvania (B.A., J.D.) Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram Candidate surveys: League of Women Voters Major endorsements: U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, 14th Ward Independent Democratic Club (Pittsburgh), Philadelphia Democratic Party, Pennsylvania State Democratic Committee’s Latino Caucus, Steel City Stonewall Democrats, National Organization for Women PAC. Others here. Fundraising total: $5.7 million Cash on hand: $2.2 million More on campaign finance: Federal Election Commission Worth reading: ” ‘All of it is on the line’: Conor Lamb joins race for Pennsylvania Senate seat” (Chris Potter, WESA)
Malcolm Kenyatta
Joe Hermitt / PennLive
Pa. state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta speaks during the Pa. Democratic primary debate for U.S. Senate held at Dickinson College on April 25, 2022.
Kenyatta represents portions of North Philadelphia in the 181st state House district. He was elected in 2018 as the first LGBTQ person of color in the General Assembly. In Harrisburg, he’s advocated for affordable housing, racial justice, addressing poverty, and gun violence prevention. In his Senate campaign, Kenyatta often recalls his experience growing up in a working-class home and how his parents struggled to pay for health care and medications. He says those experiences inform the issues he’d prioritize in Washington.
Kathy Barnette takes part in a forum for Republican candidates for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania at the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference in Camp Hill, Pa., Saturday, April 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Barnette is a pro-Trump conservative commentator on far-right channels such as Newsmax and One America News. She lives in Montgomery County. She lost her 2020 U.S. House race to incumbent Madeline Dean by nearly 20 percentage points. She often pushes conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and falsehoods about election fraud. Barnette has touted her identity as a Black Republican in the race.
Party: Republican Experience:
Author and political commentator (2016 – present) Education:
Troy State University (B.S.); Fontbonne University (MBA) Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube Candidate surveys: League of Women Voters Major endorsements: Pennsylvania Leadership Conference, BlakPAC, Pennsylvania State Police FOP Pioneer Lodge #37, state Sen. Doug Mastriano, former U.S. National Security Advisor Gen. Michael Flynn. Fundraising Total: $1.6 million Cash on hand: $260,942 More on campaign finance: Federal Election Commission Worth reading: “The Hunt” (Andrew Seidman, Philadelphia Inquirer)
Jeff Bartos
Jeff Bartos takes part in a forum for Republican candidates for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania at the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference in Camp Hill, Pa., Saturday, April 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Bartos is a businessman from Berks County and owns a contracting company as well as several real estate and development businesses. He was the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor in 2018 alongside gubernatorial candidate Scott Wagner. Bartos and Wagner lost to Gov. Tom Wolf and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman by 17 percentage points.
George Bochetto takes part in a forum for Republican candidates for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania at the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference in Camp Hill, Pa., Saturday, April 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Bochetto is an attorney in Philadelphia. He touts his legal victory in preventing a Christopher Columbus statue from being removed in Philly. Bochetto told The Associated Press that he also helped write the defense brief in former President Trump’s second impeachment trial.
Sean Gale takes part in a forum for Republican candidates for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania at the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference in Camp Hill, Pa., Saturday, April 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Gale is an attorney in Montgomery County who says he will fight against anti-Trump conservatives in Washington, D.C, and be “the exact opposite” of retiring Pennsylvania Republican Pat Toomey. His brother, Joe Gale, is running in the GOP gubernatorial primary.
Party: Republican Experience: Attorney Education: Drexel University (L.L.M.); Villanova University (J.D.); Temple University (B.B.A.) Links: Website | Facebook Candidate surveys: League of Women Voters Major endorsements: None currently available Fundraising Total: $45,146 Cash on hand: $8,807 More on campaign finance: Federal Election Commission
David McCormick
Matt Rourke / AP Photo
Dave McCormick, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania speaks during a campaign event in Coplay, Pa., Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022.
McCormick stepped down as the CEO of Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund, in January to run for U.S. Senate. In the early 2000s, he ran FreeMarkets, a Pittsburgh-based software company. Later, he served in the Bush administration as Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs. His wife, Dina Powell, served as Deputy National Security Advisor in the Trump administration. He is a U.S. Army veteran.
Party: Republican Experience:
President/CEO, Bridgewater Associates (2009 – 2022)
Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs (2007 – 2009)
Commerce Department’s Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security (2005 – 2006) Education:
U.S. Military Academy (B.S.); Princeton University (M.A., Ph.D.) Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube Candidate surveys: League of Women Voters Major endorsements: National Border Patrol Council, Butler County Republican Committee, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser (Pa.), former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. More here. Fundraising Total: $11.3 million Cash on hand: $1.8 million More on campaign finance: Federal Election Commission Worth reading: “The Bridgewater CEO who went full MAGA” (Joshua Green, Bloomberg Businessweek)
“Ex-hedge fund CEO David McCormick aims to be hometown boy in key Pennsylvania Senate race” (Marc Levy, Associated Press)
Mehmet Oz
Matt Rourke / AP Photo
Mehmet Oz takes part in a forum for Republican candidates for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania at the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference in Camp Hill, Pa., Saturday, April 2, 2022.
Oz is best known for his long career as the host of his daytime TV program, The Dr. Oz Show. He has been criticized through the years for promoting pseudoscientific treatments that lacked fact-based evidence. He does support getting vaccinated against COVID-19, but he has also supported taking hydroxychloroquine, a treatment that lacks scientific evidence. Oz also has Turkish citizenship, which he has said he would renounce if elected. In 2020, he registered to vote in Montgomery County at his in-laws’ home; he recently bought a home of his own there.
Carla Sands takes part in a forum for Republican candidates for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania at the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference in Camp Hill, Pa., Saturday, April 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Sands served in the Trump administration as an economic advisor and as ambassador to Denmark. She grew up in Cumberland County and worked as a chiropractor after she graduated from college. After her husband died in 2015, she took over as the CEO and chair of his investment firm Vintage Capital Group in California.
Party: Republican Experience:
U.S. Ambassador to Denmark (2017 –2021)
Chair and CEO, Vintage Capital Group and Vintage Real Estate (2015 – present) Education:
Life University (D.C.) Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube Candidate surveys: League of Women Voters Major endorsements: State Reps. Greg Rothman and David Maloney; CURE Action America; former Speaker of the U.S. House Newt Gingrich. More here. Fundraising Total: $4.6 million Cash on hand: $602,774 More on campaign finance: Federal Election Commission Worth reading: “Ex-ambassador, investment CEO seeks Pennsylvania Senate seat” (Marc Levy, Associated Press)
A collection of interviews, photos, and music videos, featuring local musicians who have stopped by the WITF performance studio to share a little discussion and sound. Produced by WITF’s Joe Ulrich.